Materio removes references to Weiss on campaign web site but says they will return

Commissioner Shanon Materio removed the controversial references about commission opponent Gregg Weiss on her campaign web site. But Materio said she stands by her original statements and says her campaign is “just rewording some of the things.”

Weiss, president of the West Palm Beach Democratic Club, accused Materio last week of lying about his stance on issues on her web site.

Weiss said he proved Materio incorrect on several issues. Materio wrote that while she is against 21- and 20-story condos proposed on North Flagler Drive, Weiss supports them. However, Weiss voted against the project as a member of the city’s planning board.

Materio also wrote that Weiss was in favor of a Wal-Mart grocery store at 8111 S. Dixie Highway, while Weiss was the only planning board member to vote against rezoning the property to commercial which would have allowed a Wal-Mart.

After The Palm Beach Post reported the discrepancies, Materio commented on the online version of the Post article and challenged Weiss to discuss the issues. Materio said she would remove the references from her web site only if Weiss spoke about the issues and proved her incorrect.

On Monday, Materio said the references to Weiss will return.

But Weiss said the fact that Materio altered her web site is proof that she had published incorrect information.

“I think it’s appropriate that she took it down because it was inaccurate,” Weiss said. “It misstated my positions.”

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